Qual Saf Health Care
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Qual Saf Health Care · Dec 2006
Nurses' attitudes to a medical emergency team service in a teaching hospital.
Cultural barriers including allegiance to traditional models of ward care and fear of criticism may restrict use of a medical emergency team (MET) service, particularly by nursing staff. A 1-year preparation and education programme was undertaken before implementing the MET at the Austin Hospital, Melbourne, Australia. During the 4 years after introduction of the MET, the programme has continued to inform staff of the benefits of the MET and to overcome barriers restricting its use. ⋯ Nurses in the Austin Hospital value the MET service and appreciate its potential benefits. The major barrier to calling the MET appears to be allegiance to the traditional approach of initially calling parent medical unit doctors, rather than fear of criticism for calling the MET service. A further barrier seems to be underestimation of the clinical significance of the physiological perturbations associated with the presence of MET call criteria.
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Qual Saf Health Care · Dec 2006
Effect of computerisation on the quality and safety of chemotherapy prescription.
Chemotherapy is prescribed according to protocols of several cycles. These protocols include not only therapeutic agents but also adjuvant solvents and inherent supportive care measures. Multiple errors can occur during the prescription, the transmission of documents and the drug delivery processes, and lead to potentially serious consequences. ⋯ Errors in chemotherapy prescription nearly disappeared after implementation of CPOE. The safety of chemotherapy prescription was markedly improved.
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Qual Saf Health Care · Oct 2006
Governing the surgical count through communication interactions: implications for patient safety.
Intermittently, the incidence of retained surgical items after surgery is reported in the healthcare literature, usually in the form of case studies. It is commonly recognised that poor communication practices influence surgical outcomes. ⋯ The findings highlight the power relationships between members of the surgical team and the complexity of striking a balance between organisational policy and professional judgement. Increasing professional accountability may help to deal with the issues of normalisation, whereas greater attention needs to be paid to issues of time management. More sophisticated technological solutions need to be considered to support manual counting techniques.